International

Jamaican run down is a classic Jamaican dish, one you’ll find in just about any Jamaican restaurant or cookbook. I love the creamy mouthfeel, delicate flavors of this tofu run down that I developed. This dish, as near as I can gather, is called “run down” because you start by cooking out the water from …

The Taino way of charqui – smoking strips of meat over a lattice of green allspice wood, covered with leaves from the allspice tree, and seasoned with crushed allspice berries – gave rise to both Jamaican jerk and to jerky. The Taino barbacoa evolved into barbecue. Today allspice is a kitchen staple, beloved of pie …

Jamaican mango chutney is the relish that turned me on to the beauty of chutney. It answered the question for me, what is the point of chutney, exactly? But first a note about some larger meanings of this item. It didn’t happen without a struggle, but Jamaica ended slavery in 1838, nearly three decades earlier …

Miso I was enjoying some homemade Thai food with my friend, Gigi, who remarked — in the context of my speech about how bad unfermented soyfoods are, especially industrially processed ones, and how they are put to shame by traditional, fermented soy products like tamari and especially miso — that she didn’t like miso soup. …

Serbian food is influenced by the unique spot on the globe where Serbian culture developed. It’s a liminal place where East crosses to West, where Northern Europe phases into Southern Europe. The seasonings are simple, yet the flavors are endlessly varied. I was born in the USA, but my parents, both full-blooded Serbs, came from …

Ghee, an essential ingredient in much Indian cookery, is butter with the milk solids and water removed. Pure dairy fat! Just heat butter gently, and the components will separate. Then strain. That is the essential ghee recipe. Ghee is a type of clarified butter. The difference between ghee and regular clarified butter is that ghee …

Curry powder is one ingredient you won’t find in this brightly flavored, deeply satisfying curry. Curry powder is made from a blend of spices, and there can be at least as many variations on it as there are kitchens throughout India and South-east Asia. Some curries, like this one, are made on the spot with …

Call it Jamaican avocado ice cream or Jamaican avocado frozen custard, this traditional treat is not as freaky as it sounds. Not at all. Such a pretty shade of deep green. Such a velvety mouthfeel. Such a luscious, silky, aroma. Such a delicate flavor. Also I like it that the flavor of avocado goes so …

Here’s a recipe for Jamaican jerk marinade that you can use to flavor and then grill or roast just about anything you’d like. You can even make lots and can it, or store it in the freezer. Jamaican food traditions have profoundly influenced our American conception of cookery. The Taino way of charqui â smoking …